Professional Memberships

American Association for Cancer Research
American College of Sports Medicine
American Public Health Association
American Society of Professional Engineers
American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society of Human Genetics
American Society of Nutrition
Chi Epsilon: Civil Engineering Honor Society
Cleveland Engineering Society: Environmental Division
International Genetic Epidemiology Society
International Society for Environmental Epidemiology
The Obesity Society

Courses Taught

2013-present: Design and Measurement (EPBI 465). This course focuses on common design and measurement approaches used in population health sciences research, building on introductions to these approaches provided in pre-requisite courses. This overview consists of understanding the preliminary considerations that go into selecting a qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods research design, including understanding different philosophical worldviews, strategies of inquiry and methods and procedures for each. Students will develop in-depth knowledge of these approaches through readings, lectures, group discussions and project, class presentations, and hands-on applications.

2008-present: Obesity and Cancer: Transdisciplinary Views from Molecules to Health Policy (EPBI/MPHP 464). This course provides an overview of energy balance components (diet, physical activity, resting metabolic rate, dietary induced thermogenesis) and obesity, a consequence of long term positive energy balance, and relations with certain cancers. After presenting an overview of epidemiological evidence for the obesity epidemic, the cellular and molecular biology of energy metabolism is discussed. Emerging research on biologically plausible connections and epidemiological associations between obesity and various types of cancer (e.g., colon, breast) are presented; and, interventions targeted at decreasing obesity and improving quality of life in cancer patients are also discussed.

2008-present: Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Seminar (EPBI 502). Students are exposed to a broad range of advanced topics related to the field of genetic and molecular epidemiology. The seminar includes student presentations of dissertation/thesis work and recent journal articles as well as presentations by invited speakers.

2005-2007: Epidemiology of Environmental Health (MPHP 429). Developed and instructed new course in Spring 2005 that presents key local and global issues in environmental health and epidemiology. This course provides students with an understanding of how genetic factors modify disease risk from environmental agents and how emerging exposure assessment (biomarkers, GPS-GIS) and statistical (PBTK/TD) methods will help improve protection of human health.

Save the date! The third annual North Coast Conference on Precision Medicine will be held here at Case Western Reserve University's Tinkham Veale on September 28, 2017. This year's symposium will feature a combined lecture series and hands-on workshop. The overall theme of this year's symposium will focus on current topics related to collecting lifestyle/behavioral and exposure data with an emphasis on diverse populations. The workshop will feature approaches used to extract these important health determinants from electronic health records. The event is free to trainees and only $25 for faculty and staff outside of the Institute for Computational Biology.